Sparkly vampires and shrieking teenagers

I reviewed “Twilight” for the Chronicle and gave the movie a positive review. I’m definitely not the target demographic, but thought the writing was smart for a trashy vampire teen flick and the lead actors were good. I wouldn’t say anyone on screen was worth stampeding over other fans to get a T-shirt (“Twilight”: it’s trample-riffic!), but I can definitely understand the appeal.

Firstshowing.net

Worth screaming over?

The amount of, umm, enthusiasm was probably the greatest I’ve seen in attending hundreds of advance screenings. I sat next to Poop commenter cribnotes, who got to see me cringe in pain three or four times and mutter “Jesus —-ing Christ” when the teens girls behind us would shriek at ear-splitting decibel levels every time one of the hot guys would appear on screen. (The Cribnotes review is here. She’s a fan, and has a more thorough analysis of the differences between the movie and the book, which I didn’t read.) I may have also added an audible “What the —-?” the first time one of the vampires started sparkling. More on that phenomenon in my review.

The scene at the screening, which included girls dressed in prom dresses, was a little over the top. I probably missed a quarter of the dialogue from all the hysterics going on. But when my ears weren’t physically bleeding, I thought it was kind of cool watching the kids in the audience having so much fun, and briefly felt sad that I’ll never have a daughter. I’ve never in my life had that much passion about anything. I’ll write a post later today or Monday about the most scream-worthy bands, movies and other events you enjoyed when growing up. So dust off that N*SYNC concert T-shirt!

(The review appeared in yesterday’s Chronicle, in case anyone is wondering why it’s not in the newspaper. We sometimes run movie reviews a day early when we know the film is going to be popular and there are midnight showings on Thursday night. I saw tons of teens — and more than a few adults — lined up last night when I was screening “Transporter 3” at the Van Ness.)

Have you (or your daughter) seen the movie already? What was the scene like? If you’re a parent of “Twilight”-loving girls, give us your take on the phenomenon.